Device provisioning for association with a user or a user account

ABSTRACT

According to an example aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, with the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to obtain information characterizing physical surroundings of the apparatus, transmit the information characterizing the physical surroundings to a network entity, and responsive to the transmission, receive provisioning information and associate the apparatus with the provisioning information

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to European Patent Application No.18154649.0, filed Feb. 1, 2018, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present invention relates to management of connected devices.

BACKGROUND

An increasingly diverse set of devices is being provided withcommunications capabilities. For example, instead of requiring manualreading of meters, automatic meters may be used which report theirmeasurement results without human intervention, using a suitablecommunications technology. Internet of Things, IoT, is an umbrella termwith which it is referred to an interconnected network of electronicdevices, known as IoT devices. IoT devices may be enabled to reach thenetwork via another device, or IoT devices may themselves have, forexample, a cellular data communications capability.

SUMMARY

The invention is defined by the features of the independent claims. Somespecific embodiments are defined in the dependent claims.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is providedan apparatus comprising at least one processing core, at least onememory including computer program code, the at least one memory and thecomputer program code being configured to, with the at least oneprocessing core, cause the apparatus at least to obtain informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of the apparatus, transmit theinformation characterizing the physical surroundings to a networkentity, and responsive to the transmission, receive provisioninginformation and associate the apparatus with the provisioninginformation.

Various embodiments of the first aspect may comprise at least onefeature from the following bulleted list:

-   -   information characterizing the physical surroundings comprises        at least one of the following: a non-cellular access point        identity detectable in the physical surroundings, a low-power        radio node identity detectable in the physical surroundings, a        low-power radio node advertisement, a signal strength of a        signal originating in the access point and a signal strength of        a signal originating in the low-power radio node    -   the information characterizing the physical surroundings        comprises at least one of the following: at least one cellular        base station identity, and at least one received signal strength        indicator relating to a signal from the at least one cellular        base station    -   the information characterizing the physical surroundings        comprises geographic coordinates of the physical surroundings or        information relating to an ultrasound beacon    -   the apparatus is configured to obtain the geographic coordinates        from satellite positioning circuitry comprised in the apparatus    -   the apparatus is further configured to receive, from a user        device, a token, and to provide the token to the network entity    -   the network entity comprises a cloud service    -   the apparatus is configured to transmit the information        characterizing the physical surroundings by using a cellular        communication transceiver of the apparatus    -   the provisioning information comprises at least one of: an        embedded subscriber identity module provisioning information, an        account identity and an account password

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is providedan apparatus comprising at least one processing core, at least onememory including computer program code, the at least one memory and thecomputer program code being configured to, with the at least oneprocessing core, cause the apparatus at least to receive informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of a node, determine, based atleast partly on the information, a user or a user account, and transmitprovisioning information to the node.

Various embodiments of the second aspect may comprise at least onefeature from the following bulleted list:

-   -   the information characterizing the physical surroundings        comprises at least one of the following: a non-cellular access        point identity detectable in the physical surroundings, a        low-power radio node identity detectable in the physical        surroundings, a low-power radio node advertisement, a signal        strength of a signal originating in the access point and a        signal strength of a signal originating in the low-power radio        node    -   the information characterizing the physical surroundings        comprises at least one of the following: at least one cellular        base station identity and at least one received signal strength        indicator relating to a signal from the at least one cellular        base station    -   the information characterizing the physical surroundings        comprises geographic coordinates of the physical surroundings or        information relating to an ultrasound beacon    -   the apparatus is further configured to determine the user or        user account at least partly on a token received from the node,        the token being associated with the user or user account    -   the apparatus is configured to determine the user or the user        account by determining a user device in the physical        surroundings, the user device being a user device of the user or        the user device being enabled to access the user account    -   transmit provisioning information to the node after receipt of        user's confirmation to associate the node with himself, or        his/her account, or his/her application as response to a        notification transmitted from the apparatus

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method comprising obtaining, in an apparatus, informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of the apparatus, transmitting theinformation characterizing the physical surroundings to a networkentity, and responsive to the transmission, receiving provisioninginformation and associating the apparatus with the provisioninginformation.

Various embodiments of the third aspect may comprise at least onefeature corresponding to a feature from the preceding bulleted list laidout in connection with the first aspect.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method, comprising receiving information characterizing physicalsurroundings of a node, determining, based at least partly on theinformation, a user or a user account, and transmitting provisioninginformation to the node.

Various embodiments of the fourth aspect may comprise at least onefeature corresponding to a feature from the preceding bulleted list laidout in connection with the second aspect.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is providedan apparatus comprising means for obtaining, in an apparatus,information characterizing physical surroundings of the apparatus, meansfor transmitting the information characterizing the physicalsurroundings to a network entity, and means for receiving, responsive tothe transmission, provisioning information and for associating theapparatus with the provisioning information.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is providedan apparatus comprising means for receiving information characterizingphysical surroundings of a node, means for determining, based at leastpartly on the information, a user or a user account, and means fortransmitting provisioning information to the node.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereona set of computer readable instructions that, when executed by at leastone processor, cause an apparatus to at least obtain, in an apparatus,information characterizing physical surroundings of the apparatus,transmit the information characterizing the physical surroundings to anetwork entity, and responsive to the transmission, receive provisioninginformation and associate the apparatus with the provisioninginformation.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereona set of computer readable instructions that, when executed by at leastone processor, cause an apparatus to at least receive informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of a node, determine, based atleast partly on the information, a user or a user account, and transmitprovisioning information to the node.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda computer program configured to cause a method in accordance witheither the third or the fourth aspect to be performed.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an apparatus comprising at least one processing core, at leastone memory including computer program code, the at least one memory andthe computer program code being configured to, with the at least oneprocessing core, cause the apparatus at least to transmit informationrelating to information characterizing physical surroundings of theapparatus to a requesting node, receiving a notification relating to thetransmitted information relating to the information characterizing thephysical surroundings of the apparatus from a network entity, andresponsive to the received notification transmit to the network entityan acceptance of transmitting the provisioning information from thenetwork entity to the node and to associate the node with theprovisioning information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system in accordance with at least someembodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example data structure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example apparatus capable of supporting at leastsome embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates signaling in accordance with at least someembodiments;

FIG. 5 is a flow graph of a method in accordance with at least someembodiments, and

FIG. 6 is a flow graph of a method in accordance with at least someembodiments.

EMBODIMENTS

A device, such as an IoT device, may gather information characterizingphysical surroundings of the device and provide these to a networkentity, which may use this information to associate the IoT device witha user account, or with a user. For example, the provided informationmay comprise an identity of a node that is already associated with theuser account, or user. Thus the device may be associated with the useraccount or user without the need to configure the association by hand,since proximity to an already associated node, for example, is leveragedto make the association process easier.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system in accordance with at least someembodiments. Device 110 may comprise an IoT device, or another kind ofconnected device which may be associated with a user account or a user.For example, device 110 may comprise an activity monitor, a biosensordevice, a security alarm device, a media consumption device or anotherkind of suitable device. In the embodiments of FIG. 1, device 110 isfurnished with a cellular communications capability.

The cellular communications capability comprises an ability tocommunicate via cellular base stations, such as base station 140. Thiscommunication takes place over wireless link 114, which may comprise anuplink for conveying information from device 110 to base station 140,and/or a downlink for conveying information from base station 140 todevice 110. Base station 140 and device 110 are configured to operate inaccordance with a same cellular communication standard to enable theirinteroperability. Examples of cellular standards include wideband codedivision multiple access, WCDMA, long term evolution, LTE, and newradio, NR.

Although discussed in relation to the embodiments of FIG. 1 as acellular communications capability, device 110 may alternatively, or inaddition, have a non-cellular communications capability. A non-cellularcommunications capability comprises an ability to form a wireless link,with uplink and/or downlink, with a non-cellular access point. In thisregard, low-power technologies such as Bluetooth are not considerednon-cellular communications capabilities. Examples of non-cellulartechnologies include wireless local area network, WLAN, and worldwideinteroperability for microwave access, WiMAX. Whether via a cellular ornon-cellular capability, device 110 is enabled to communicate with abroader network, such as, for example, the Internet.

Smartphone 120 is an example of a user device that may be associatedwith a user account. A smartphone may be enabled to communicate via acellular communication network to provide services to the user. Servicesmay include voice telephony, video calls, Internet browsing, remotebanking and/or other services, for example. In the embodiments of FIG.1, smartphone 120 is optional in the sense that the provisioning processdescribed herein would work also without it. Smartphone 120 may beenabled to connect to a network in which base station 140 is comprised,or to a different cellular network.

In systems where device 110 would lack a cellular or non-cellularcommunications capability, device 110 could be connected with a broadernetwork via smartphone 120, for example by establishing a low-powerconnection between device 110 and smartphone 120. In such a case, device110 could be associated with the user account or user of smartphone 120,since connectivity would traverse smartphone 120 and the two units wouldshare a communications connection. However, where device 110 connectsdirectly to a broader network in the sense that it doesn't needsmartphone 120 to reach the broader network, device 110 does notnecessarily have a connection with smartphone 120, and associatingdevice 110 with the user account or user is not as straightforward.Narrowband IoT and/or LTE-M, long term evolution for machines, may beused in this regard to facilitate associating device 110 with the entityaccount, user account or user.

Node 130 is a device which is associated, directly or indirectly, with auser account or user. For example, node 130 may be a non-cellular accesspoint, such as a residential WLAN access point, which is configured toprovide connectivity to devices at a home of a specific user or users,for example family members. As another example, node 130 may comprise alow-power radio node, such as a Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy node,which is associated with a user account.

When a user first takes device 110 into use, he may wish to associate itwith his user account, or with his person. Rather than configuring theuser account information, or user information, by hand using a userinterface of device 110, the user may leverage the fact that he may haveone or more devices already associated, which may be used to makeassociating device 110 easier. In some embodiments, this may even havethe benefit that device 110 need not have a user interface itself, orthe user interface of device 110 may be simplified if it need not beenabled to feed user or user account configuration data.

In use, device 110 may monitor its surroundings for informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of device 110. Examples of datathat may be comprised in such information include a non-cellular accesspoint identity detectable in the physical surroundings, a low-powerradio node identity detectable in the physical surroundings, a low-powerradio node advertisement, a signal strength of a signal originating inthe access point and a signal strength of a signal originating in thelow-power radio node. The non-cellular access point identity maycomprise a WLAN access point identity, which may be a service setidentity, SSID or basic service set identity, BSSID, for example. Alow-power radio node identity may comprise a Bluetooth or Bluetooth LowEnergy identity, for example. In general the information characterizingthe physical surroundings of device 110 may comprise information onelectromagnetic waves, such as radio waves, or ultrasound waves, forexample. Further, an application identity in smartphone 120 may becomprised in the information characterizing physical surroundings ofdevice 110. Such an application identity may comprise a user accountinformation identity of the application, secured such that a networkentity may understand it. Further examples include an operating systemidentity and/or version, such as, for example, Android, iOS or WindowsPhone software version of smartphone 120. A node 130 operating systemand/or version information may also be included in the informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of device 110.

Further examples of the information characterizing the physicalsurroundings comprises at least one of the following: at least one acellular base station identity and at least one received signal strengthindicator relating to a signal from at least one cellular base station.A list of detectable cellular base stations, or non-cellular accesspoints, gives an understanding of the whereabouts of device 110. Whensupplemented with the received signal strength indicators, a moreaccurate estimate of the location of device 110 is obtained. Thereceived signal strength indicators may relate to strengths of signalsfrom cellular base stations detectable by device 110. A list ofdetectable cellular base stations, possibly supplemented with thereceived signal strength indicators, may be referred to as a cellularfingerprint. Cellular fingerprints may be usable, for example, inassisting detection of local microcells or picocells.

Yet further examples of the information characterizing the physicalsurroundings comprise geographic coordinates of the physicalsurroundings, or information relating to an ultrasound beacon.Geographic coordinates may be obtained by device 110 by using asatellite positioning receiver. Examples of satellite positioningconstellations include the global positioning system, GPS, and Galileoconstellations. The ultrasound beacon may be received using a microphoneof device 110, for example.

Monitoring the surroundings may comprise listening, using radiocapabilities of device 110, for detectable radio emissions in thesurroundings. For example, device 110 may use each of its radiotransceivers in turn, or substantially simultaneously, to form a diverseunderstanding of the physical surroundings. Similarly, a satellitepositioning receiver and/or a microphone may be used, for example.

Once device 110 has obtained the information characterizing its physicalsurroundings, it may transmit it, in whole or in part, to a networkentity, such as a cloud service or server, for example. The networkentity may assess the information to attempt to associate a user accountor user with the information it received from device 110. An examplenetwork entity is illustrated in FIG. 1 as network entity 160, reachablefrom device 110 via wireless link 114, base station 140, link 145,network node 150 and link 156. Network node 150 may comprise a gatewayor switch, for example. In general, network entity 160 may comprise auser information repository or ecosystem element with which the user isassociated in terms of obtaining services, such as data storage, contentupdates and/or email services.

In some embodiments, the information device 110 provides to networkentity 160 comprises a type of device 110. For example, the type maycomprise a pedometer, cardiac monitor, media consumption device, smartmeter, vehicle, or security alarm device. A security alarm device may beused by senior citizens to summon assistance, for example. A type ofdevice may comprise, or be comprised in, an identifier of device 110that device 110 provides to network entity 160, for example.

For example, where the information comprises a non-cellular access pointidentity registered to a user, the network entity 160 may therebyassociate the user with the information received from device 110 in casenetwork entity 160 has access to the information associating thenon-cellular access point identity to the user. Likewise, where thenon-cellular access point has been exclusively or mostly used by a sameuser, or to access a same user account, the network entity may associatethe information it has received from device 110 with the correspondinguser or user account.

Where the information comprises a low-power radio node identity, forexample of node 130, the network entity may assess whether this identitymay be associated with user or user account, for example in case thelow-power radio node is associated with a device of the user. An exampleof this is where the low-power radio node is a Bluetooth headset pairedwith a smartphone 120 that has an active session with a user account. Incase signal strengths are comprised in the information received fromdevice 110, the network entity may primarily use the access point orlow-power node identities associated with the highest signal strengths,since they are likely to be closer to device 110.

Where the information comprises a cellular fingerprint or geographiccoordinates, the network entity may assess, whether it can associatethis fingerprint or location with a user or user account in anunambiguous way. This may be possible where the user is in an area wherethere are not very many other users, and therefore the location orfingerprint may provide an identification of the user and/or account. Tofacilitate comparison of cellular fingerprints, a smartphone 120 of theuser may send to the network entity 160 cellular fingerprint informationof its surroundings, to use as comparison material. Device 110 may bewell enabled to compile cellular fingerprint information in cases wheredevice 110 is cellular-capable.

In general, a user device such as node 130 and/or smartphone 120 may bearranged, or configured to by the user, to transmit a signal to networkentity 160 to inform the network entity that an association process isongoing or imminent. This would facilitate the task of the networkentity, since the network entity can then search for suitable user oruser account information identified by above mentioned way to associatewith the information from device 110 from a set of user or user accountdata that have indicated association is ongoing or imminent. This isexpected, at any given time, to be a small fraction of the overall massof user or user account information.

In some embodiments, device 110 is configured to transmit a beacon,responsive to which node 130 and/or smartphone 120 transmit the signalto the network entity to inform the network entity that the associationprocess is ongoing or imminent. In some embodiments, device 110 isconfigured to transmit a request beacon, requesting nearby nodes totransmit information suitable in facilitating association. Examples ofsuch information include Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energyadvertisements, ultrasound beacons and geo-location information. In someembodiments, device 110 is configured to transmit both the requestbeacon and the beacon requesting the other nodes to provide the signalto the network entity. The signal to the network entity may comprise anidentifier of a user or of a user account.

In some embodiments device 110 is configured to device, for how long itwill gather the information characterizing its physical surroundings.This information may be gathered in connection with powering device 110on, for example for the first time, or when there is no user or useraccount information associated with device 110. The length of timedevice 110 spends gathering the information may be adjusted based onsupported connectivity techniques, which relate to scanningpossibilities.

Device 110 may have a setting relating to when an applicationprogramming interface, API is called for sending the gatheredinformation to the network entity. Device 110 may select a minimumscanning time, or the maximum scanning time, or more generally scanningtime, may be selected by the network entity, for example based on alocation of device 110. In some embodiments, the network entity mayrequest device 110 to scan more, to obtain more informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings, responsive to an inconclusiveresult with the information device 110 initially provides to the networkentity. In some embodiments, device 110 is configured to determine, whenthe minimum or maximum amount of information characterizing the physicalsurroundings has been gathered, and to responsively transmit theinformation to the network entity.

In some embodiments, device 110 is configured to check its batterylevel, and to conditionally abort the scanning in case the battery levelis below a preconfigured threshold level. The threshold level may be setbased on an amount of energy deemed necessary to complete the scanning.

Once the network entity has associated the information it has receivedfrom device 110 with the user or the user account, it may provideprovisioning information to device 110, for example via the cellularnetwork comprising base station 140. The provisioning information maycomprise, for example, at least one of an embedded subscriber identitymodule provisioning information, an account identity and an accountpassword. In some embodiments, network entity 160 associates, based atleast partly on the information received, device 110 with more than oneuser account and/or with more than one user.

In one embodiment, an account can include, for example, family membersor their devices, such as smart phones, which may receive provisioninginformation when and if the account settings allow this kind offunction, if only one group member has provided information. In someembodiments the provisioning information may be distributed to allnecessary devices of the account. The account may comprise enterprise orcommunity based groups.

Prior to providing the provisioning information to device 110, thenetwork entity may provide a notification to smartphone 120, or anotherdevice of the user with whom, or with whose user account, theinformation from device 110 was associated in network entity 160. Thenotification may comprise a type and/or identity of device 110. Networkentity 160 may then provide the provisioning information to device 110only once the user confirms his intent is to associate a device of thetype of device 110 with himself, or with his account and/or his/herapplication of smartphone 120.

In some embodiments, once the user accepts a notification from networkentity 160, the user device, such as smartphone 120, may provide a tokento device 110 using, for example, a short-range radio technology, whichdevice 110 will then forward to network entity 160 to further confirmthe association is correct. The token may comprise suitablecryptographic information enabling network entity 160 to verify itoriginates in the user device.

The smart phone 120 may transmit information relating to informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of the smart phone to a device 110.Smart phone may receive a notification relating to the transmittedinformation relating to the information characterizing the physicalsurroundings of smart phone 120 from network entity 160, and responsiveto the received notification smart phone 120 may transmit to the networkentity 160 an acceptance of transmitting the provisioning informationfrom network entity 160 to device 110 and to associate device 110 withthe provisioning information.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example data structure. The data structure may bea structure of the information characterizing physical surroundings ofdevice 110, for example. In the illustrated structure, elements 210 a,210 b, 210 c, 210 d, 210 e, 210 f, 210 g and 210 h are type descriptors,defining a type of an associated data element. For example, element 210a may indicate an associated data element 220 a is a non-cellular accesspoint identity, for example. Examples of different types of information,and thus types of data elements, which may be comprised in theinformation device 110 sends to the network entity have been describedabove in connection with FIG. 1. Data elements 220 a, 220 b, 220 c, 220d, 220 e, 220 f, 220 g and 220 h are the payload data and carry theinformation device 110 has gleaned of its physical surroundings. Thus,these data elements may comprise the non-cellular access pointidentities, cellular fingerprint data, ultrasound beacon or Bluetoothbeacon data, and so on, as described herein above. Further, smart phoneoperating system, operating system version number, application identity,application version number, country, clock etc. may be used to furtherspecify the request. It may also be that the device 110 can get onevirtual assistant ID like from HomePod, Amazon Echo and Google Home typedevices. The server may associate with the user account or user basedon, for example, smart phone identity, account identity and virtualassistant identity. When the virtual assistant has already beenassociated with the smart phone then this association can be used astrusted and predict with which device 110 should be associated.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example apparatus capable of supporting at leastsome embodiments. Illustrated is device 300, which may comprise, insuitable parts, for example a device such as device 110 or networkentity 160 of FIG. 1. Comprised in device 300 is processor 310, whichmay comprise, for example, a single- or multi-core processor wherein asingle-core processor comprises one processing core and a multi-coreprocessor comprises more than one processing core. Processor 310 maycomprise more than one processor. A processing core may comprise, forexample, a Cortex-A8 processing core manufactured by ARM Holdings or aSteamroller processing core produced by Advanced Micro DevicesCorporation. Processor 310 may comprise at least one Qualcomm Snapdragonand/or Intel Atom processor. Processor 310 may comprise at least oneapplication-specific integrated circuit, ASIC. Processor 310 maycomprise at least one field-programmable gate array, FPGA. Processor 310may be means for performing method steps in device 300. Processor 310may be configured, at least in part by computer instructions, to performactions.

Device 300 may comprise memory 320. Memory 320 may compriserandom-access memory and/or permanent memory. Memory 320 may comprise atleast one RAM chip. Memory 320 may comprise solid-state, magnetic,optical and/or holographic memory, for example. Memory 320 may be atleast in part accessible to processor 310. Memory 320 may be at least inpart comprised in processor 310. Memory 320 may be means for storinginformation. Memory 320 may comprise computer instructions thatprocessor 310 is configured to execute. When computer instructionsconfigured to cause processor 310 to perform certain actions are storedin memory 320, and device 300 overall is configured to run under thedirection of processor 310 using computer instructions from memory 320,processor 310 and/or its at least one processing core may be consideredto be configured to perform said certain actions. Memory 320 may be atleast in part comprised in processor 310. Memory 320 may be at least inpart external to device 300 but accessible to device 300.

Device 300 may comprise a transmitter 330. Device 300 may comprise areceiver 340. Transmitter 330 and receiver 340 may be configured totransmit and receive, respectively, information in accordance with atleast one cellular or non-cellular standard. Transmitter 330 maycomprise more than one transmitter. Receiver 340 may comprise more thanone receiver. Transmitter 330 and/or receiver 340 may be configured tooperate in accordance with global system for mobile communication, GSM,wideband code division multiple access, WCDMA, long term evolution, LTE,IS-95, wireless local area network, WLAN, Ethernet and/or worldwideinteroperability for microwave access, WiMAX, standards, for example.

Device 300 may comprise a short range communication, SRC, transceiver350. SRC transceiver 350 may support at least one SRC technology, suchas NFC, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy or similar technologies.

Device 300 may comprise user interface, UI, 360. UI 360 may comprise atleast one of a display, a keyboard, a touchscreen, a vibrator arrangedto signal to a user by causing device 300 to vibrate, a speaker and amicrophone. A user may be able to operate device 300 via UI 360, forexample to accept incoming telephone calls, to originate telephone callsor video calls, to browse the Internet, to manage digital files storedin memory 320 or on a cloud accessible via transmitter 330 and receiver340, or via NFC transceiver 350, and/or to play games.

Device 300 may comprise or be arranged to accept a user identity module370. User identity module 370 may comprise, for example, a subscriberidentity module, SIM, card installable in device 300. An example of aSIM is an embedded SIM. A user identity module 370 may compriseinformation identifying a subscription of a user of device 300. A useridentity module 370 may comprise cryptographic information usable toverify the identity of a user of device 300 and/or to facilitateencryption of communicated information and billing of the user of device300 for communication effected via device 300. The provisioninginformation may relate to provisioning a SIM or SIM functionality ofdevice 110 of FIG. 1.

Processor 310 may be furnished with a transmitter arranged to outputinformation from processor 310, via electrical leads internal to device300, to other devices comprised in device 300. Such a transmitter maycomprise a serial bus transmitter arranged to, for example, outputinformation via at least one electrical lead to memory 320 for storagetherein. Alternatively to a serial bus, the transmitter may comprise aparallel bus transmitter. Likewise processor 310 may comprise a receiverarranged to receive information in processor 310, via electrical leadsinternal to device 300, from other devices comprised in device 300. Sucha receiver may comprise a serial bus receiver arranged to, for example,receive information via at least one electrical lead from receiver 340for processing in processor 310. Alternatively to a serial bus, thereceiver may comprise a parallel bus receiver.

Device 300 may comprise further devices not illustrated in FIG. 3. Forexample, where device 300 comprises a smartphone, it may comprise atleast one digital camera. Some devices 300 may comprise a back-facingcamera and a front-facing camera, wherein the back-facing camera may beintended for digital photography and the front-facing camera for videotelephony. Device 300 may comprise a fingerprint sensor arranged toauthenticate, at least in part, a user of device 300. In someembodiments, device 300 lacks at least one device described above. Forexample, some devices 300 may lack a SRC transceiver 350 and/or useridentity module 370.

Processor 310, memory 320, transmitter 330, receiver 340, SRCtransceiver 350, UI 360 and/or user identity module 370 may beinterconnected by electrical leads internal to device 300 in a multitudeof different ways. For example, each of the aforementioned devices maybe separately connected to a master bus internal to device 300, to allowfor the devices to exchange information. However, as the skilled personwill appreciate, this is only one example and depending on theembodiment various ways of interconnecting at least two of theaforementioned devices may be selected without departing from the scopeof the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates signaling in accordance with at least someembodiments. On the vertical axes are disposed, from the left, node 130,device 110, network entity 160 and smartphone 120 of FIG. 1. Timeadvances from the top toward the bottom.

Phase 410 comprises device 110 gathering information characterizing itsphysical surroundings. This may comprise gathering information using atleast one radio receiver, and/or at least one microphone, as describedherein above. During this phase node 130 transmits a beacon that device110 receives. The beacon may comprise, for example, a Bluetooth orBluetooth low energy beacon transmission, with characterizinginformation. The beacon is illustrated in FIG. 4 as an arrow from node130 to phase 410 in device 110.

In phase 420, device 110 transmits to network entity 160 information ithas obtained in phase 410. The information may comprise information fromthe beacon from node 130 and, optionally, other information as well.Responsively, in phase 430, network entity 160 seeks to associate theinformation it has received in phase 420 with a user or user account. Inthis example case, the beacon from node 130 enables network entity 160to associate the information with a specific user account.

In phase 440, network entity 160 provides a notification to a smartphone120, which is a user device associated with the user account. Thenotification informs smartphone 120 that an associating match has beenfound. The notification may comprise a type of device 110, which networkentity 160 may have received in phase 420 as part of the informationprovided by device 110.

In phase 450, smartphone 120 inquiries from the user, whether he wishesto authorize the association formed in network entity 160. For example,a prompt may inquire from the user “OK TO ASSOCIATE DEVICE OFTYPE—PEDOMETER3000—WITH YOUR ACCOUNT?” If the user is in the process oftaking a device of this type, namely device 110, into use, he willprobably authorize the association.

Responsive to a positive response from the user, smartphone 120 informsnetwork entity 160 of the positive response, phase 460, and the networkentity 160 will then as a response to the message of phase 460 providethe provisioning information to device 110, in phase 470.

FIG. 5 is a flow graph of a method in accordance with at least someembodiments. The phases of the illustrated method may be performed indevice 110, an auxiliary device or a personal computer, for example, orin a control device configured to control the functioning thereof, wheninstalled therein.

Phase 510 comprises obtaining, in an apparatus, informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of an apparatus. Phase 510 may takeplace while the apparatus is in a state where the apparatus is notassociated with a user or user account. Phase 520 comprises transmittingthe information characterizing the physical surroundings to a networkentity. Phase 530 comprises, responsive to the transmission, receivingprovisioning information and associating the apparatus with theprovisioning information. Phase 530 may comprise receiving provisioninginformation associating the apparatus with a user or a user account.

FIG. 6 is a flow graph of a method in accordance with at least someembodiments of the present invention. The phases of the illustratedmethod may be performed in network entity 160, an auxiliary device or apersonal computer, for example, or in a control device configured tocontrol the functioning thereof, when installed therein.

Phase 610 comprises receiving information characterizing physicalsurroundings of a node. Phase 620 comprises determining, based at leastpartly on the information, a user or user account. Finally, phase 630comprises transmitting provisioning information to the node. Theprovisioning information may associate the node with the user or theuser account. In some embodiments, the provisioning information istransmitted only once a user has approved the provisioning, for examplevia a user interface dialogue.

It is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention disclosedare not limited to the particular structures, process steps, ormaterials disclosed herein, but are extended to equivalents thereof aswould be recognized by those ordinarily skilled in the relevant arts. Itshould also be understood that terminology employed herein is used forthe purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting.

Reference throughout this specification to one embodiment or anembodiment means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughoutthis specification are not necessarily all referring to the sameembodiment. Where reference is made to a numerical value using a termsuch as, for example, about or substantially, the exact numerical valueis also disclosed.

As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositionalelements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list forconvenience. However, these lists should be construed as though eachmember of the list is individually identified as a separate and uniquemember. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as ade facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based ontheir presentation in a common group without indications to thecontrary. In addition, various embodiments and example of the presentinvention may be referred to herein along with alternatives for thevarious components thereof. It is understood that such embodiments,examples, and alternatives are not to be construed as de factoequivalents of one another, but are to be considered as separate andautonomous representations of the present invention.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In thepreceding description, numerous specific details are provided, such asexamples of lengths, widths, shapes, etc., to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in therelevant art will recognize, however, that the invention can bepracticed without one or more of the specific details, or with othermethods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-knownstructures, materials, or operations are not shown or described indetail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

While the forgoing examples are illustrative of the principles of thepresent invention in one or more particular applications, it will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerousmodifications in form, usage and details of implementation can be madewithout the exercise of inventive faculty, and without departing fromthe principles and concepts of the invention. Accordingly, it is notintended that the invention be limited, except as by the claims setforth below.

The verbs “to comprise” and “to include” are used in this document asopen limitations that neither exclude nor require the existence of alsoun-recited features. The features recited in depending claims aremutually freely combinable unless otherwise explicitly stated.Furthermore, it is to be understood that the use of “a” or “an”, thatis, a singular form, throughout this document does not exclude aplurality.

1. An apparatus comprising at least one processing core, at least onememory including computer program code, the at least one memory and thecomputer program code being configured to, with the at least oneprocessing core, cause the apparatus at least to: obtain informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of the apparatus; transmit theinformation characterizing the physical surroundings to a networkentity, and responsive to the transmission, receive provisioninginformation and associate the apparatus with the provisioninginformation.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises at least one of thefollowing: a non-cellular access point identity detectable in thephysical surroundings, a low-power radio node identity detectable in thephysical surroundings, a low-power radio node advertisement, a signalstrength of a signal originating in the access point and a signalstrength of a signal originating in the low-power radio node.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises at least one of thefollowing: at least one cellular base station identity, and at least onereceived signal strength indicator relating to a signal from the atleast one cellular base station.

4. The apparatus according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises geographiccoordinates of the physical surroundings or information relating to anultrasound beacon.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the apparatus isconfigured to obtain the geographic coordinates from satellitepositioning circuitry comprised in the apparatus.

6. The apparatus according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the apparatusis further configured to receive, from a user device, a token, and toprovide the token to the network entity.

7. The apparatus according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the networkentity comprises a cloud service.

8. The apparatus according to any of claims 1-7, wherein the apparatusis configured to transmit the information characterizing the physicalsurroundings by using a cellular communication transceiver of theapparatus.

9. The apparatus according to any of claims 1-8, wherein theprovisioning information comprises at least one of: an embeddedsubscriber identity module provisioning information, an account identityand an account password.

10. An apparatus comprising at least one processing core, at least onememory including computer program code, the at least one memory and thecomputer program code being configured to, with the at least oneprocessing core, cause the apparatus at least to: receive informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of a node, determine, based atleast partly on the information, a user or a user account, and transmitprovisioning information to the node.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises at least one of thefollowing: a non-cellular access point identity detectable in thephysical surroundings, a low-power radio node identity detectable in thephysical surroundings, a low-power radio node advertisement, a signalstrength of a signal originating in the access point and a signalstrength of a signal originating in the low-power radio node.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises at least one of thefollowing: at least one cellular base station identity and at least onereceived signal strength indicator relating to a signal from the atleast one cellular base station.

13. The apparatus according to any of claims 10-12, wherein theinformation characterizing the physical surroundings comprisesgeographic coordinates of the physical surroundings or informationrelating to an ultrasound beacon.

14. The apparatus according to any of claims 10-13, wherein theapparatus is further configured to determine the user or user account atleast partly on a token received from the node, the token beingassociated with the user or user account.

15. The apparatus according to any of claims 10-14, wherein theapparatus is configured to determine the user or the user account bydetermining a user device in the physical surroundings, the user devicebeing a user device of the user or the user device being enabled toaccess the user account.

16. A method comprising: obtaining, in an apparatus, informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of the apparatus; transmitting theinformation characterizing the physical surroundings to a networkentity, and responsive to the transmission, receiving provisioninginformation and associating the apparatus with the provisioninginformation.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises at least one of thefollowing: a non-cellular access point identity detectable in thephysical surroundings, a low-power radio node identity detectable in thephysical surroundings, a low-power radio node advertisement, a signalstrength of a signal originating in the access point and a signalstrength of a signal originating in the low-power radio node.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises at least one of thefollowing: at least one cellular base station identity, at least onereceived signal strength indicator relating to a signal from the atleast one cellular base station.

19. The method according to any of claims 16-18, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises geographiccoordinates of the physical surroundings or information relating to anultrasound beacon.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising obtaining thegeographic coordinates from satellite positioning circuitry comprised inthe apparatus.

21. The method according to any of claims 16-20, further comprisingreceiving, from a user device, a token, and providing the token to thenetwork entity.

22. The method according to any of claims 16-21, wherein the networkentity comprises a cloud service.

23. The method according to any of claims 16-22, further comprisingtransmitting the information characterizing the physical surroundings byusing a cellular communication transceiver of the apparatus.

24. The method according to any of claims 16-23, wherein theprovisioning information comprises at least one of: an embeddedsubscriber identity module provisioning information, an account identityand an account password.

25. A method, comprising: receiving information characterizing physicalsurroundings of a node, determining, based at least partly on theinformation, a user or a user account, and transmitting provisioninginformation to the node.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises at least one of thefollowing: a non-cellular access point identity detectable in thephysical surroundings, a low-power radio node identity detectable in thephysical surroundings, a low-power radio node advertisement, a signalstrength of a signal originating in the access point and a signalstrength of a signal originating in the low-power radio node.

27. The method according to claim 25 or 26, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises at least one of thefollowing: at least one cellular base station identity, at least onereceived signal strength indicator relating to a signal from the atleast one cellular base station.

28. The method according to any of claims 25-27, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises geographiccoordinates of the physical surroundings or information relating to anultrasound beacon.

29. The method according to any of claims 25-28, further comprisingdetermining the user or user account at least partly on a token receivedfrom the node, the token being associated with the user or user account.

30. The method according to any of claims 25-29, further comprisingdetermining the user or the user account by determining a user device inthe physical surroundings, the user device being a user device of theuser or the user device being enabled to access the user account.

31. An apparatus comprising: means for obtaining, in an apparatus,information characterizing physical surroundings of the apparatus; meansfor transmitting the information characterizing the physicalsurroundings to a network entity, and means for receiving, responsive tothe transmission, provisioning information and for associating theapparatus with the provisioning information.

32. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of a node, means for determining,based at least partly on the information, a user or a user account, andmeans for transmitting provisioning information to the node.

33. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon aset of computer readable instructions that, when executed by at leastone processor, cause an apparatus to at least: obtain, in an apparatus,information characterizing physical surroundings of the apparatus;transmit the information characterizing the physical surroundings to anetwork entity, and responsive to the transmission, receive provisioninginformation and associate the apparatus with the provisioninginformation.

34. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon aset of computer readable instructions that, when executed by at leastone processor, cause an apparatus to at least: receive informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of a node, determine, based atleast partly on the information, a user or a user account, and transmitprovisioning information to the node.

35. A computer program configured to cause a method in accordance withat least one of claims 16-24 or 25-30 to be performed.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

At least some embodiments of the present invention find industrialapplication in enabling device networking.

ACRONYMS LIST

-   BSSID basic service set identity-   IoT Internet of Things-   LTE long term evolution-   NR new radio-   SSID service set identity-   WiMAX worldwide interoperability for microwave access-   WCDMA wideband code division multiple access

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 110 Device 120 Smartphone 130 Node 140 Base station150 Network node 160 Network entity 114 Wireless link 145, 156 Links210a-210h Type descriptors 220a-220h Data elements 310-370 Structure ofthe apparatus of FIG. 3 410-470 Phases of the method of FIG. 4 510-530Phases of the method of FIG. 5 610-630 Phases of the method of FIG. 6

That which is claimed:
 1. An apparatus comprising at least oneprocessor; and at least one memory including computer program code; theat least one memory and the computer program code configured to, withthe at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:obtain in the apparatus, information characterizing physicalsurroundings of the apparatus by controlling a scanning time of thephysical surroundings, wherein the scanning time depends on apreconfigured level of gathered information of the physicalsurroundings; transmit the information characterizing the physicalsurroundings to a network entity for associating the apparatus with auser or a user account; and receive, responsive to the transmission,provisioning information for associating the apparatus with theprovisioning information, wherein the provisioning informationassociates the apparatus with the user or the user account.
 2. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information characterizingthe physical surroundings comprises at least one of the following: anon-cellular access point identity detectable in the physicalsurroundings, a low-power radio node identity detectable in the physicalsurroundings, a low-power radio node advertisement, a signal strength ofa signal originating in the access point or a signal strength of asignal originating in the low-power radio node.
 3. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the information characterizing thephysical surroundings comprises at least one of the following: at leastone cellular base station identity, or at least one received signalstrength indicator relating to a signal from the at least one cellularbase station.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theinformation characterizing the physical surroundings comprisesgeographic coordinates of the physical surroundings or informationrelating to an ultrasound beacon.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 4,wherein the apparatus is configured to obtain the geographic coordinatesfrom satellite positioning circuitry comprised in the apparatus.
 6. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is furtherconfigured to receive, from a user device, a token, and to provide thetoken to the network entity.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the network entity comprises a cloud service.
 8. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to transmitthe information characterizing the physical surroundings by using acellular communication transceiver of the apparatus.
 9. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the provisioning information comprises atleast one of: an embedded subscriber identity module provisioninginformation, an account identity or an account password.
 10. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein obtaining informationcharacterizing physical surroundings of the apparatus takes place whilethe apparatus is in a state where the apparatus is not associated withthe user or the user account.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 1further cause the apparatus to associate the apparatus with the user orthe user account includes an authorized response to the association fromthe user device or a device authorized by the account or user.
 12. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein further cause the apparatus toassociate with the user account or user using smart phone identity,account identity or virtual assistant identity.
 13. A method comprising:obtaining in an apparatus, information characterizing physicalsurroundings of the apparatus by controlling a scanning time of thephysical surroundings, wherein the scanning time depends on apreconfigured level of gathered information of the physicalsurroundings; transmitting the information characterizing the physicalsurroundings to a network entity for associating the apparatus with auser or a user account; and receiving responsive to the transmission,provisioning information for associating the apparatus with theprovisioning information, wherein the provisioning informationassociates the apparatus with the user or the user account.
 14. A methodas claimed in claim 13, wherein the apparatus is further configured toreceive, from a user device, a token, and to provide the token to thenetwork entity.
 15. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein obtaininginformation characterizing physical surroundings of the apparatus takesplace while the apparatus is in a state where the apparatus is notassociated with the user or the user account.
 16. An apparatuscomprising at least one processor; and at least one memory includingcomputer program code; the at least one memory and the computer programcode configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatusat least to perform: receive information characterizing physicalsurroundings of a device that has been obtained in accordance with ascanning time that is controlled in a manner dependent on apreconfigured level of the information gathered for the physicalsurroundings, wherein the information is received by the apparatus forassociating the device with a user or a user account; transmit anotification to a user device; receive an authorization for theassociation from the user device; and transmit, responsive to thereception, by the apparatus provisioning information for associating thedevice with the provisioning information, wherein the provisioninginformation associates the apparatus with the user or the user account.17. An apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises at least one of thefollowing: a non-cellular access point identity detectable in thephysical surroundings, a low-power radio node identity detectable in thephysical surroundings, a low-power radio node advertisement, a signalstrength of a signal originating in the access point or a signalstrength of a signal originating in the low-power radio node.
 18. Anapparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the apparatus is furtherconfigured to receive, from the device, a token, provided from the userdevice.
 19. A method according to claim 13, wherein the informationcharacterizing the physical surroundings comprises at least one of thefollowing: a non-cellular access point identity detectable in thephysical surroundings, a low-power radio node identity detectable in thephysical surroundings, a low-power radio node advertisement, a signalstrength of a signal originating in the access point or a signalstrength of a signal originating in the low-power radio node.
 20. Amethod according to claim 13, wherein the information characterizing thephysical surroundings comprises at least one of the following: at leastone cellular base station identity, or at least one received signalstrength indicator relating to a signal from the at least one cellularbase station.